


Coming And Going

by ImogenSmiley



Series: Reigisa [17]
Category: Free!
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Being true to yourself, Brothers, Brothers That Don't Get Along, Coming Out, Coming Out to Family, Doing What's Best For You, Established Hazuki Nagisa/Ryuugazaki Rei, Established Relationship, Hesitation, Internalised Homophobia, Lowkey Internalised Homophobia, M/M, Meeting the Family, Meeting the Parents, Strained family relationships, Writemas, introducing the boyfriend, lowkey, writemas 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:54:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21818503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImogenSmiley/pseuds/ImogenSmiley
Summary: Rei had never expected his family to react negatively about who he loved. It seemed bizarre that with three kids, they would be concerned about a lack of grandchildren and whatnot.He had too much faith in them.
Relationships: Hazuki Nagisa/Ryuugazaki Rei
Series: Reigisa [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1531475
Comments: 2
Kudos: 33





	Coming And Going

Coming out to his sister had been easier than he had ever anticipated. Mostly because she worked it out without him needing to tell her anything. Aoi inherited the Ryugazaki family's intuition. She had a sharp eye and a keen lust for knowledge. Inference was her forte and being surrounded by LGBT kids in her own social circle meant that watching her older brother with Nagisa wasn't disturbing.

She'd decided to ask him about it after a year of watching stolen glances, lingering touches and soft smiles. Nagisa had just left to go home, and Aoi saw her opportunity. She and Rei had been the only people home, and so, after the departure of the blind, she knocked on his bedroom door. He opened it and greeted her with a small smile.

"Onii-chan, will you help me with dinner?" she'd asked.

Rei had nodded, following his younger sister downstairs and into the kitchen. They weren't going to have anything complicated for dinner, and she knew he knew she was more than capable of preparing udon. Yet there they were, pottering about the kitchen together and preparing the meal they'd share.

She'd watched him for a while as he concentrated. He was very particular about presentation of food, even if it was just dinner for his sister. She'd waited for him to finish plating up the udon.

In the end, she'd asked him at the table. She was clever, making sure to keep the conversation centred around the blond whom had only just left to go home for dinner. After they chatted about him for a while, she'd blinked up at her older brother, asking him, supposedly in passing, whether he liked Nagisa-kun the same way her friends Fubuki-kun and Kaito-kun liked one another. With blush stained cheeks, Rei admitted it. It didn't take much pressure. He remembered his younger sister complaining about how hopeless her best friends were. How they were so clearly enamoured with one another but neither had the nerve to do anything about it for months! He'd felt her anguish, not that Rei would have ever thought to have told her that when she'd been ranting, but he and Nagisa-kun were stuck in a loop of affection and misunderstanding. Eventually, Nagisa-kun admitted he'd been flirting all summer, and they'd started dating but, he had no right to come out on the coat trails of his sister's stories from school.

She had insisted that she wouldn't tell anyone, she'd merely been curious, but was grateful for her older brother's honesty.

Coming out to the rest of his family, however, had been an ordeal. He'd never anticipated it to be dramatic, after all, his parents both worked in science, and didn't practice a faith. They had three kids, and Rei was only sixteen. He could love who he wanted.

He and Nagisa had been dating for six months and it was finally time, they thought they were ready to do the 'meet the parents' thing. Rei had visited the Hazuki household plenty of times, and had been introduced to most of Nagisa's immediate family. In contrast, due to their hectic jobs, Nagisa had actually only met Aoi. She was, conveniently, out bowling with all of her friends for her friend, Mei-chan's birthday.

It was finally time. They'd both scrubbed up a bit, Nagisa had curled his hair and was wearing his nice jeans, while Rei spent hours on his appearance, and cleaning up the house.

Rei's parents had cooked a stir fry for dinner and the five of them sat together. Rei had decided it was best to just tear off the bandage, and just outright say it.

"Everyone, Nagisa-kun and I are in a relationship."

The room, which had once been bubbling with noise seemed to silence in that instant, like a TV on mute, there was nothing. Rei glanced at Nagisa, who continued to smile up at the Ryugazaki family. Sure, they barely knew the blond, but they’d heard enough. They’d known that they’d been friends for a while.

Rei’s parents exchanged a glance, neither opening their mouths and speaking. Instead, it was his older brother, Akira, that spoke first. If you could call a snort, a word. The sound was loud, short, but mocking.

The older Ryugazaki son raised his dark blue brows at his brother, lips contorting into a sneer. He bared his teeth at the two boys at the table and let another snort escape his lips. He laughed, “You’re kidding, right?”

“No,” Nagisa said, tilting his head to the side, “why would we joke about that? Rei-chan, why would we joke?”

Rei shrugged, staring his brother down, with a narrowed gaze, “I’m serious.”

“You’re seventeen, you’re not serious!” Akira laughed, “You don’t know anything about the world and you’re here declaring you’re in a relationship with HIM.”

“Aki,” Rei’s mother hissed.

“I really don’t appreciate your tone, Akira.”

“What’s your problem?” Nagisa piped up. Rei’s eyes widened. He glanced at his boyfriend, bewildered and frantic.

Akira scoffed, turning his nose up at his brother and his boyfriend, “It’s just strange, strange that despite everything you’ve done, all the effort you’ve gone through and whatnot, to be normal, to be happy, to avoid being bullied for being so long,” Aki eyed his brother, looking him up and down, raising his top lip and wrinkling his nose, as if he’d smelt something foul, “that you’d just throw it all away for some boy. Strange.”

Rei balled his fist under the table as his father chided his brother fro his comments. But still, neither of his parents spoke to him.

“Well,” Rei said, “Thank you for the meal, but I think we’ll be going.”

Rei had never expected his family to react negatively about who he loved. It seemed bizarre that with three kids, they would be concerned about a lack of grandchildren and whatnot.

He’d had too much faith in them. His parents’ silence was almost worse than his brother’s ridicule. He knew that Akira was a bit uptight, but he’d been hoping that his parents, or at least his mother, would show compassion and welcome Nagisa into the family just as they had with all of Akira’s relationships. And there had been many.

With Nagisa holding onto his hand, the pair made their way along the street, only stopping when they made it to the train station. Wordlessly, they seemed to have agreed that the next point of call was to go to Nagisa’s. After all, they’d already been accepted with open arms there. Even if, after introducing Rei to his sisters, each had teased him, it wasn’t in the same way that Rei’s family had reacted.

They got on the first train that pulled up, sitting down for five minutes and got off at Nagisa’s stop.

Rei’s boyfriend was fortunate enough to live less than five minutes away from the station. They walked together, holding onto each other’s hands under the smile of streetlights, shivering. Winter was bitter and in their haste, Rei hadn’t even put on a jacket. He trembled as he walked toward Nagisa’s house.

The blonde’s parents were out. They were taking advantage of their youngest child’s absence to go on a much needed date. They’d missed alone time. They wouldn’t be home for hours. Meaning, in their return to the house, they had the place to themselves.

Nagisa lead his boyfriend into the living room and huddled up together with him on the sofa, arms wrapped around him. They wrapped their arms around his shoulders.

Once Rei sat down, the emotions washed over him. He felt like he did at the start of the year, when he’d been learning to swim. He was sinking, drowning, struggling to breathe. With trembling hands, they sat beneath a blanket and Nagisa held onto Rei.

Half an hour after the boys arrived, there was a knock on the door. There stood the Ryugazaki parents, eyes red, and tears trickling down their faces. Their breathing was heavy, and they were shaking. Nagisa had answered the door. Behind them, lingering away from the house was Akira.

“Hazuki-kun is Rei with you?”

“Yes, he’s here. What can I do for you?”

The blond stared at the frustrated, emotional Ryugazaki parents. It was his mother who stepped forward, she wrung her hands and lowered her head when she spoke to him, “Hazuki-kun, we didn’t mean for Akira to offend you, or Rei. We were just shocked; please can we speak with Rei?”

“That’s not my decision to make Ryugazaki-san.”

“I understand, Hazuki-kun.”

Nagisa turned his head, “Rei-chan, your parents are here, do you want to see them?”

Rei shuffled toward the doorway of the living room. He took a deep breath and nodded. He walked through the hallway and to the door. He noticed his brother, shooting daggers at him from where he lurked. Rei exhaled a shaky breath.

“Hello.”

“Rei, please don’t be unreasonable,” His father said, “We were simply shocked by the nature of your announcement. We hope you and Hazuki-kun have had and will continue to share a meaningful relationship.”

His mother nodded, wiping her eyes with her sleeve, “Please come home with us, we didn’t mean to upset, or offend you and neither did Akira. You know your brother, he’s harmless!”

Rei sighed, closing his eyes. In the darkness he could think, despite feeling their eyes on him, he could ignore it a bit more, “I will come home, once I am in a calm, and level-headed state of mind. I’m not yet in a position where I can comfortably come back yet. I will be home later. I am not running away from home; I just need to clear my head.”

“Rei, please!”

“Mother, I just said that I will be coming home. I just need to calm down.”

“Alright, son,” his father said, “If you want, you can call me and I’ll pick you up.”

“That won’t be necessary!” Nagisa piped up, leaning into view of Rei’s parents, “Namiko-nee will take Rei-chan home tonight. She just text to say its fine. Rei-chan will be back before you know it.”

Rei nodded, “Thank you for coming after me, but I still need to calm down.”

“Why wouldn’t we come after you, Rei, you’re our son, and no matter what you do, we will love you.”

Rei nodded, “Thank you.”

He bowed his head slightly and closed the door, as his parents stared after him. Nagisa beamed at him and hugged him tightly, “I’m so proud of you Rei-chan!”

“Thank you, Nagisa-kun.”


End file.
